Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar).

Events of 1909

January

• January - The Old Age Pensions Act 1908 comes into force in Britain.
• January 1 - Drilling begins on the Lakeview Gusher.
• January 5 - Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.
• January 16 - Ernest Shackleton's expedition claims to have found the magnetic South Pole, but the location recorded for it may be incorrect. [1]
• January 27 - The Young Left is founded in Norway.
• January 28 - United States troops leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.

February

• February 12 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
• February 23 - The Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada.
• February 24 - The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.

March

• March 10 - The Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 is signed in Bangkok.
• March 18 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter, becoming the first radio broadcaster.
• March 23 - Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
• March 31 - Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

April

• April 4 - The Sport Club Internacional is founded in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
• April 6 - Robert Peary, Matthew Henson, and four Eskimo explorers allegedly reach the North Pole.
• April 18 - Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.
• April 27 - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown and succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V. He is sent to the Ottoman port city of Thessaloniki (Selanik) the next day.

May

• May 13 - The first Giro d'Italia is held, in Milan, and is won by Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna.

June

• June 1 - The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opens in Seattle.
• June 2 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
• June 9 - Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, becomes the first woman to drive across the United States. With 3 female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for 59 days she drives a Maxwell automobile 3,800 miles, from Manhattan, New York to San Francisco, California.
• June 15 - Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
• June 22 - Construction begins on the Cape Cod Canal, which would separate Cape Cod from mainland Massachusetts, United States.

July

• July 13 - Gold is discovered near Cochrane, Ontario.
• July 16 - A revolution forces Mohammad Ali Shah, Persian Shah of the Qajar dynasty to abdicate in favor of his son Ahmad Shah Qajar. He proceeds to leave Persia for Imperial Russia, reportedly seeking the assistance of Nicholas II of Russia in regaining the throne.
• July 25 - Louis Bleriot is the first man to fly across the English Channel(thus a large open body of water) in a heavier-than-air craft.
• July 26 - Work on the anti-aircraft gun commences.

August

• August 8 - The Rosicrucian Fellowship ia launched at Seattle, Washington.
• August 12 - The first event is held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• August 23 - Welshman Fred ‘Tenby’ Davies beats Irishman Bert Day at Pontypridd to become world champion over the half-mile distance run.

September

• September 4 - Japan and Qing sign the Jiandao/Gando Treaty, which gives Imperial Japan a way to receive railroad concessions in Manchuria.

October

• October - The Trade Boards Act, a form of minimum wage legislation, is passed in the UK.
• October 8
  • The first rugby football match to be played at Twickenham Stadium is won by the Harlequins when they defeat Richmond at the brand new ground.
• October 8
  • An earthquake in the Zagreb area leads Andrija Mohorovičić to identify the Mohorovičić discontinuity.
• October 13 - An agreement by Germany, Italy and Switzerland gives the Germans and Italians access to the St. Gotthard Railway tunnel.
• October 26 - Korean nationalist An Jung-geun assassinates Ito Hirobumi, a former Prime Minister of Japan, in Harbin, China, in protest of the Japanese annexation of Korea.

November

• November 2 - The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity is founded at Boston University.
• November 11 - The U.S. Navy founds a navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• November 13 - Ballinger-Pinchot scandal begins: Collier's Magazine accuses U.S. Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger of questionable dealings in Alaskan coal fields.
• November 18 - Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including 2 Americans) are executed by order of dictator Jose Santos Zelaya.

December

• December 4
  • The first Grey Cup Championship game is played.
  • The Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club is founded.
  • The University of Bristol is founded and receives its Royal Charter.
• December 17 - Leopold II of Belgium dies and is succeeded by his nephew Albert I of Belgium.
• December 31 - The Manhattan Bridge opens.

Undated

• Karl Landsteiner develops a system of blood grouping.
• Leon's, a Canadian furniture store, opens.
• The laboratory of Paul Ehrlich creates the Salvarsan treatment for syphilis.
• The centennial anniversary of Miami University (Ohio) is celebrated.
• The American Issue Publishing House of the Anti-Saloon League is incorporated.
• The building of the modern city of Tel Aviv, Israel, begins; it is known initially as Ahuzat Bayit.

Ongoing

• Unification of Saudi Arabia

Births

January-February

• January 1 - Barry Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
• January 3 - Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
• January 4 - J. R. Simplot, American businessman (d. 2008)
• January 5 - Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (d. 1994)
• January 8 - Willy Millowitsch, German actor (d. 1999)
• January 9 - Anthony Mamo, Maltese President (1974-1976) (d. 2008)
• January 13 - Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist accused of setting fire to the Reichstag (d. 1934)
• January 15
  • Jean Bugatti, German-born automobile designer (d. 1939)
  • Gene Krupa, American drummer (d. 1973)
• January 16 - Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
• January 19 - Hans Hotter, German bass-baritone (d. 2003)
• January 21 - Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer (d. 2004)
• January 22
  • Ann Sothern, American actress (d. 2001)
  • U Thant, Burmese United Nations Secretary General (d. 1974)
• January 24 - Martin Lings, British Islamic scholar (d. 2005)
• February 1 - George Beverly Shea, American gospel singer and songwriter
• February 3 - Simone Weil, French philosopher (d. 1943)
• February 9
  • Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-born actress and singer (d. 1955)
  • Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (d. 1994)
  • Harald Genzmer, German composer (d. 2007)
• February 11
  • Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
  • Joseph Mankiewicz, American filmmaker (d. 1993)
• February 15
  • Guillermo Gorostiza Paredes, Spanish footballer (d. 1966)
• February 16 - Hugh Beaumont, American actor (Leave It To Beaver) (d. 1982)
  • Miep Gies, Dutch friend and biographer of Anne Frank
• February 18 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
• February 19 - Enrico Donati, Italian-born American painter (d. 2008)
• February 21 - Hans Erni, Swiss painter and sculptor
• February 22 - Edmund Berkeley, American scientist (d. 1988)
• February 24 - August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)
• February 26 - King Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)

March-April

• March 2 - Mel Ott, American baseball player (d. 1958)
• March 4 - Harry Helmsley, American real estate entrepreneur (d. 1997)
• March 19 - Louis Hayward, South African-born actor (d. 1985)
• March 22 - Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (d. 1983)
• March 27 - Golo Mann, German historian (d. 1994)
• April 6 - William M. Branham, American Christian minister (d. 1965)
• April 7 - Robert Charroux, French writer (d. 1978)
• April 8 - John Fante, Italian-American writer (d. 1983)
• April 13 - Stanislaw Marcin Ulam, Polish-born mathematician (d. 1984)
• April 22 - Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• April 25 - William Pereira, American architect (d. 1985)
• April 30
  • Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (d. 2004)
  • F. E. McWilliam, Northern Irish sculptor (d. 1992)

May-June

• May 6 - Loyd Sigmon, American amateur ("ham") radio broadcastor (d. 2004)
• May 7 - Edwin H. Land, American camera inventor (Polaroid) (d. 1991)
• May 10 - Mother Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
• May 15 - James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)
• May 18 - Fred Perry, English tennis player (d. 1995)
• May 19 - Nicholas Winton, British humanitarian
• May 20 - Matt Busby, Scottish football manager (Manchester United) (d. 1994)
• May 23 - Hugh E. Blair, American linguist (d. 1967)
• May 24 - Victoria Hopper, blonde Canadian stage and film actress and singer (d. 2007)
• May 27 - Dolores Hope, American singer, wife of Bob Hope
• May 30 - Benny Goodman, American musician (d. 1986)
• June 3 - Ira D. Wallach, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2007)
• June 6 - Isaiah Berlin, Russian historian of ideas (d. 1997)
• June 7 - Jessica Tandy, English actress (Driving Miss Daisy) (d. 1994)
• June 12 - Archie Bleyer, American song arranger & band leader (d. 1989)
• June 14 - Burl Ives, American singer (d. 1995)
• June 17 - Elmer Lee Andersen, Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
• June 20 - Errol Flynn, Australian actor (d. 1959)
• June 26 - Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-born celebrity manager (d. 1997)

July-August

• July 3 - Earl Butz, Former United States Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford (d. 2008)
• July 11 - Fritz Leonhardt, German structural engineer (d. 1999)
• July 18 - Mohammed Daoud Khan, President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
• July 23 - John William Finn, American World War II hero
• July 28 - Malcolm Lowry, British novelist (d. 1957)
• July 30 - C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian and author (d. 1993)
• August 9 - Adam von Trott zu Solz, German lawyer and diplomat (d. 1944)
• August 10 - Leo Fender, one of the most influential people in the development of electrical instruments (Stratocaster) (d. 1991)
• August 25
  • Ruby Keeler, Canadian singer and actress (d. 1993)
  • Michael Rennie, English actor (d. 1971)
• August 26 - Jim Davis, American actor (d. 1981)
• August 31 - Ferenc Fejtő, Hungarian-born French journalist and political scientist (d. 2008)

September-October

• September 1 - E. Herbert Norman, Canadian diplomat (d. 1957)
• September 7 - Elia Kazan, Hungarian-born film director (d. 2003)
• September 14 - Peter Scott, British ornithologist and painter (d. 1989)
• September 15 - Jean Batten, New Zealand aviator (d. 1982)
• September 17 - Ernie Koy, American baseball player (d. 2007)
• September 21 - Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian politician (d. 1972)
• September 24 - Carl Sigman, American songwriter (d. 2000)
• September 28 - Al Capp, American cartoonist (Lil' Abner) (d. 1979)
• October 5 - Tony Malinosky, American baseball player
• October 10 - Robert F. Boyle, American production designer and art director
• October 14 - Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (d. 1938)
• October 19 - Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (d. 1981)
• October 24 - Bill Carr, American athlete (d. 1966)
• October 27 - Henry Townsend, American blues musician (d. 2006)
• October 28 - Francis Bacon, Irish painter (d. 1992)

November-December

• November 4 - Skeeter Webb, American baseball player (d. 1986)
• November 9 - Kay Thompson, American author and actress (d. 1998)
• November 10 - Pawel Jasienica, Polish historian (d. 1970)
• November 18 - Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (d. 1976)
• November 22 - Mikhail Mil, Russian constructor of Mil helicopters and founder of the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant (d. 1970)
• November 23 - Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and writer (d. 2000)
• November 24 - Gerhard Gentzen, German mathematician (d. 1945)
• November 26 - Eugene Ionesco, Romanian-born playwright (d. 1994)
• November 27 - James Agee, American writer (d. 1955)
• December 4 - Jimmy Jewel, English actor (d. 1995)
• December 14 - Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1975)
• December 16 - Emil Mailho, American baseball player (d. 2007)
• December 20
  • Vakkom Majeed, Indian freedom fighter, Travancore-Cochin legislative member (d. 2000)
  • Vagn Holmboe, Danish composer (d. 1996)
• December 21 - Seicho Matsumoto, Japanese mystery writer and journalist (d. 1992)
• December 22 - Alan Carney, American actor (d. 1973)
• December 23
  • Barney Ross, American boxer (d. 1967)
  • Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 2000)
• December 23 - Giulio Racah, Israeli mathematician and physicist (d. 1965)

Deaths

January - June

• January 8 - Harry Seeley, British palaeontologist (b. 1839)
• January 10 - Charles Vernon Culver, U.S. politician (b. 1830)
• January 12 - Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864)
• January 14 - Arthur William a Beckett, British journalist (b. 1844)
• January 15 - Saint Arnold Janssen, German Catholic priest (b. 1837)
• February 17 - Geronimo, Apache leader (b. 1829)
• March 16 - Wilbraham Egerton, 1st Earl Egerton of Tatton, chairman of the Manchester Ship Canal (b. 1832)
• April 10 - Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (b. 1837)
• April 28 - Frederick Holbrook, Vermont governor (b. 1813)
• May 10 - Futabatei Shimei, Japanese author and translator (b. 1864)
• May 18 - Isaac Albéniz, Spanish composer (b. 1860)
• June 24 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (b. 1849)

July - December

• July 18 - Carlos, Duke of Madrid (b. 1848)
• July 19 - Arai Ikunosuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1836)
• August 5 - Miguel Antonio Caro, Colombian political leader (b. 1843)
• August 15 - Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian author (b. 1866)
• August 27 - Emil Christian Hansen, Danish fermentation physiologist (b. 1842)
• September 2 - Louis Delacenserie, Belgian architect (b. 1838)
• September 4 - Clyde Fitch, American dramatist (b. 1865)
• September 27 - Gyula Donáth, Hungarian sculptor (b. 1850)
• September 29 - Vladimir Vidrić, Croatian poet (b. 1875)
• October 26 - Ito Hirobumi, 1st Prime Minister of Japan (assassinated) (b. 1841)
• November 9 - William Powell Frith, English painter (b. 1819)
• December 10 - Red Cloud, Sioux warrior
• December 15 - Francisco Tárrega, Spanish guitarist and composer (b. 1852)
• December 17 - Leopold II of Belgium (b. 1835)
• December 26 - Frederic Remington, American cowboy artist and sculptor (b. 1864)
• date unknown - Gideon T. Stewart, American educator and politician (b. 1824)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Guglielmo Marconi, Karl Ferdinand Braun for the development of wireless telegraphy (radio).
• Chemistry - Wilhelm Ostwald for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria, and reaction velocities.
• Medicine - Emil Theodor Kocher for his work on the physiology, pathology, and surgery of the thyroid gland.
• Literature - Selma Lagerlöf ("in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings").
• Peace - Auguste Marie Francois Beernaert and Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant.

See also

• Related subjects: automobile, safari, Suez Canal.

External links